A car caught fire in the middle of the night between Wednesday and Thursday in Mosta, the police said in a statement yesterday morning.

Members of the civil protection department immediately rushed to Triq Carmelo Schembri, where they were informed that the car was parked, but the owner of the car acted quickly enough and managed to put out the fire himself.

Meanwhile the police are also investigating another incident that took place in Qrendi later during the night.

Police were informed that an explosion had taken place in an apartment in Triq Santa Bernardetta, the cause of which appears to have been a geyser according to preliminary investigations.

Structural damage to the apartment was reported, and some buildings close by were also slightly damaged.

A magisterial inquiry into this case is under way.

Nobody was injured in either of the incidents, but the owner of the apartment was still taken to hospital as a precaution.

Meanwhile, one of the 17-year-old Gozitans involved in a traffic accident in Xaghra, Gozo on 21 December has succumbed to his injuries, the police said in a statement yesterday.

The accident had taken place when the victim and another 17-year-old, both from Xaghra, were riding on a scrambler and crashed into a Mitsubishi Pajero which was driven by a 48-year-old man from Xaghra, who only suffered slight injuries.

The teenagers were rushed to the Gozo General Hospital and were certified to be in critical condition. They were later airlifted by helicopter to St Luke’s Hospital.

An autopsy was carried out yesterday.